By Jan Lopatka, Vladimir Soldatkin and Nina Chestney PRAGUE/MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian gas was still reaching Austria on Monday despite Gazprom cutting off flows to top Austrian importer OMV over the weekend due to a contractual dispute,

Austrian utility OMV says supplies from Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom stopped early Saturday after the company said it would stop payments for the gas following an arbitration award.

Austrian energy company OMV said gas deliveries from Russia had ended at 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Saturday, but the regulator said supplies to customers were stable despite a drop in flows into Austria.

STORY: Russia's invasion of Ukraine roiled the energy supply network of Europe as EU nations outraged by the war looked to buy gas supplies elsewhere. But enduring European demand for cheap Russian gas was apparent after Russia's state energy firm Gazprom over the weekend halted fuel deliveries meant for Austria,

Russian gas exports through Ukraine to Europe - the main transit route for the gas to the EU - were stable on Monday, according to Kremlin-controlled energy company Gazprom, despite the company cutting off gas supplies to Austria's OMV.

By Newsbase Russia’s Gazprom cut off its natural gas supply to Austria’s biggest oil and gas company OMV on November 16, the latter’s trading arm reported on the previous day, triggering a spike in European gas prices.